In 1967, four teenagers were waterskiing on the lake when they saw Ogopogo. They got the waterskiier back in the boat and began to chase Ogopogo. They said it was a grey-green colour and had three humps. It looked like a snake. They thought it was about 20 feet long. The boat was going 40 miles per hour, and it could not keep up with the sea serpent. The teenager who was in the water at the time of the sighting said she would never waterski on Okanagan Lake again.

Daryl Ellis of Vernon recently had a close encounter with Ogopogo. The 52-year old Ellis, a cancer survivor, was swimming the length of Okanagan Lake in August 2000 as a fund-raising activity. He saw Ogopogo twice. “I was a little spooked,” he said. Near Peachland, two creatures joined him to swim for about 45 minutes. They swam about 8 feet below him. He described the one closest to him as big and snake-like. It was “three times as long as me – and I’m 6 foot 2 inches.” The second creature was shorter and fatter. Ellis was told that maybe the second one was a reflection of the first one. A few days later, he saw a creature when he was swimming just south of Kelowna’s Floating Bridge. It created waves and raised its head. The beast came close to get a look at him. Ellis saw one eye. He said it was the size of a grapefruit. Not easily frightened, Ellis plans to retrace his route in the summer of 2001.